Lumbar Support for Law Enforcement Officers

ABSTRACT

Many law enforcement officers have lower back problems arising from the habitual wearing of what is generally known as a “Sam Browne” duty belt. Workmen&#39;s Compensation now presumes any lower back ailment suffered by a law enforcement officer was caused by a duty belt; and consequently, automatically covers such back problem. A duty belt seat accessory for minimizing excessive pressure on the lower back of a law enforcement officer when he wears a duty belt is disclosed. The seat accessory comprises: a lower back portion having a minimal thickness; an upper back portion having a thickness generally exceeding the thickness of the lower back portion and the equipped duty belt; and, a positioning and support means to maintain the back portion in an upright position adjacent to a seat. When the officer leans back his back is supported largely by the upper back portion of the seat accessory and there is no excessive back pressure on his lower back as a result of the equipped duty belt he is wearing.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to,U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,377 filed Jun. 25, 2002, the entire contents ofwhich is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to low back problems arising from the use of dutybelts worn by law enforcement officers. These duty belts are worn aroundthe waist and are used to carry handcuffs and other paraphernalia usedin law enforcement. More particularly this invention relates to a seator seat attachment which neutralizes the injurious effect of a duty beltto the lower back of a law enforcement officer who is required to wear aduty belt in the course of his employment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the inventors is a Doctor of Chiropractic who has treated manylaw enforcement officers for lower back problems arising from thehabitual wearing of what is generally known as a “Sam Browne” duty belt.The other of the inventors is a police Captain who has field familiaritywith his officers who have suffered lower back pain. Officers arerequired to wear duty belts around their waists to carry handcuffs,flashlights, back up revolvers, and other varying selected equipment.Law enforcement officers expend extensive time periods sitting in andenforcement personnel which will substantially alleviate lower backpain.

One aspect of this invention provides for a duty belt seat accessory forminimizing excessive pressure on the lower back of a law enforcementofficer when he is wearing an equipped duty belt. The seat accessorycomprises: a lower back portion having a minimal thickness; an upperback portion having a thickness generally exceeding the thickness of thelower back portion and the equipped duty belt; and, a positioning andsupport means to maintain the back portion in an upright positionadjacent to a seat. When the officer leans back, his back is supportedlargely by the upper back portion of the seat accessory and there is noexcessive back pressure on his lower back as a result of the equippedduty belt he is wearing.

In a preferred aspect of this apparatus the seat accessory furthercomprises a bottom portion foldingly attached to the bottom edge portionof the lower back portion of the seat accessory. A rigid seat frameextending around a peripheral portion of the back portions and thebottom portion of the seat accessory. Hinges attach the back portion ofthe frame to the bottom portion of the frame.

Various other objects, advantages and features of this invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIGURES OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat accessory for attachment to aback portion of a seat.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the seat accessory shown in FIG. 1 as viewedalong line 2-2 when folded into an operative position.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the seat accessory wherein the seat accessorycomprises a replacement back portion of the seat 18.

The following is a discussion and description of the preferred specificembodiments of this invention, such being made with reference to thedrawings, wherein the same reference numerals are used to indicate thesame or similar parts and/or structure. It should be noted that suchdiscussion and description is not meant to unduly limit the scope of theinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 we have aperspective view of a seat duty belt accessory 20 for attachment to aback portion of a seat 18. FIG. 2 is a side view of the seat accessory20 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed along line 2-2 when folded into anoperative position. The seat accessory 20 minimizes excessive pressureon the lower back 16 of a law enforcement officer 14 when an equippedduty belt 12 is worn. The seat accessory comprises: an upper backportion 24 having a thickness generally exceeding the thickness of theequipped duty belt 12; a lower back portion 22 having a minimalthickness; and, a positioning and support means 26 to maintain the backportions 24, 22 in an upright position adjacent to a seat 18. When theofficer 14 leans back, his back is supported largely by the upper backportion 24 of the seat accessory 20 and there is no excessive backpressure on his lower back as a result of the equipped duty belt 12 heis wearing.

Most preferably the positioning and support means 26 comprises a strap27 which is configured to extend around a back portion of the seat 18.Alternatively, the positioning and support means 26 might comprise aseat cover (not shown) containing the back positions 24, 22.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the seat accessory wherein the seat accessory20 comprises a replacement back portion of the seat 18. It iscontemplated that the back portion of the seat 18 might be entirelyreplaced by a seat duty belt accessory 20. In this event the positioningand support means to maintain the back portions 22, 24 in an uprightposition adjacent to a seat 18 would be an adaption on the seataccessory 20 so that the seat accessory 20 could attach to the bottomportion of the seat 18 in a manner similar to the way in which theoriginal back portion of the seat 18, which had been replaced, wasattached to the bottom portion of the seat 18. Such a seat duty beltaccessory 20 might be produced by either an original equipmentmanufacturer, or alternatively, a secondary market replacement equipmentmanufacturer.

In the most preferred embodiment of the invention the seat accessory 20further comprises a bottom portion 28 foldingly attached to the bottomedge portion of the lower back portion 22 of the seat accessory 20. Arigid seat frame 30 extends around a peripheral portion of the backportions 22, 24 and the bottom portion 28 of the seat accessory 20.Hinges 32 attach the back portion of the frame 30 to the bottom portionof the frame 30. In the most preferred embodiment of the invention theframe 30 comprises flat bar which is ¾″×⅛″.

In has been found if the lower back portion 22 of the seat accessory 20has a height of 10″ and generally a 0″ padding thickness and the upperportion of the back portion of the seat accessory 20 has a height ofgenerally 13″ and a maximum 3″ padding thickness 44 then an equippedduty belt 12 does not press into an officer's 14 back with excessivepressure.

While the invention has been described with preferred specificembodiments thereof, it will be understood that this description isintended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the invention,which is defined by the following claims.

1. A seat back assembly forming a seat back of a bench vehicle seathaving a seat bottom, the seat back assembly comprising: a bottom edgeportion; a thoracic upper back portion having a substantial thickness; alumbar lower back portion disposed between the bottom edge portion andthe thoracic upper back portion and having a thickness less than thethickness of the thoracic upper back portion, thereby creating aconcavity adjacent the bottom edge portion and positioned so as to bebehind the lumbar spine of a user seated on the seat bottom and againstthe seat back assembly, to accommodate an equipped duty belt and torelieve pressure on the lumbar back caused by equipped duty belt,wherein the concavity is about ten inches high, measured in a directionextending from the bottom edge portion toward the thoracic upper backportion, the concavity extending laterally across the lumbar lower backportion such that no portion of the concavity between the thoracic upperback portion and the bottom edge portion protrudes forwardly of thethoracic upper back portion when the user is sitting against the seatback assembly in a normal seating position; and a support deviceconfigured to support the seat back assembly relative to the seatbottom.
 2. A seat back assembly as in claim 1 wherein the seat back andthe bottom portion are hinged together by hinges to accommodate varyingslopes of the lower and upper back portions with respect to the bottomportion of the seat accessory.
 3. A seat back assembly as in claim 1wherein the upper and lower back portions of the seat back furthercomprise wings that are foldingly attached to side portions of the backportions of the seat back.
 4. A seat back assembly as in claim 1 whereinthe seat back further comprises magnets positioned centrally in the backportions of the seat accessory to reduce back pain.
 5. A seat backassembly as in claim 1 further comprising an inflatable portion in theseat back.
 6. A seat back assembly as in claim 5 further comprising apump and a release valve so that volume and pressure of air in theinflatable portion can be controlled.
 7. A seat back assembly as inclaim 1, wherein the concavity is about 4 inches deep relative to thethoracic upper back portion.
 8. A vehicle seat including a seat backassembly and a seat bottom, the seat back assembly comprising: a bottomedge portion; a thoracic upper back portion having a substantialthickness; a lumbar lower back portion disposed between the bottom edgeportion and the thoracic upper back portion and having a thickness lessthan the thickness of the thoracic upper back portion, thereby creatinga concavity adjacent the bottom edge portion and positioned so as to bebehind the lumbar spine of a user seated on the seat bottom and againstthe seat back assembly, to accommodate an equipped duty belt and torelieve pressure on the lumbar back caused by equipped duty belt,wherein the concavity is about ten inches high, measured in a directionextending from the bottom edge portion toward the thoracic upper backportion, the concavity extending laterally across the lumbar lower backportion such that no portion of the concavity between the thoracic upperback portion and the bottom edge portion protrudes forwardly of thethoracic upper back portion when the user is sitting against the seatback assembly in a normal seating position; and a support deviceconfigured to support the seat back assembly relative to the seatbottom.
 9. A vehicle seat as in claim 8 wherein the seat back and thebottom portion are hinged together by hinges to accommodate varyingslopes of the lower and upper back portions with respect to the bottomportion of the seat accessory.
 10. A vehicle seat as in claim 8 whereinthe upper and lower back portions of the seat back further comprisewings that are foldingly attached to side portions of the back portionsof the seat back.
 11. A vehicle seat as in claim 8 wherein the seat backfurther comprises magnets positioned centrally in the back portions ofthe seat accessory to reduce back pain.
 12. A vehicle seat as in claim 8further comprising an inflatable portion in the seat back.
 13. A vehicleseat as in claim 12 further comprising a pump and a release valve sothat volume and pressure of air in the inflatable portion can becontrolled.
 14. A vehicle seat as in claim 8, wherein the concavity isabout 4 inches deep relative to the thoracic upper back portion.
 15. Avehicle seat as in claim 8, the vehicle seat being mounted to a policecar.
 16. A vehicle seat including a seat back assembly and a seatbottom, the seat back assembly comprising: a bottom edge portion; athoracic upper back portion having a substantial thickness; means forcreating a concavity adjacent the bottom edge portion and positioned soas to be behind the lumbar spine of a user seated on the seat bottom andagainst the seat back assembly, to accommodate an equipped duty belt andto relieve pressure on the lumbar back caused by equipped duty belt,wherein the concavity is about ten inches high, measured in a directionextending from the bottom edge portion toward the thoracic upper backportion, the concavity extending laterally across the lumbar lower backportion such that no portion of the concavity between the thoracic upperback portion and the bottom edge portion protrudes forwardly of thethoracic upper back portion when the user is sitting against the seatback assembly in a normal seating position; and a support deviceconfigured to support the seat back assembly relative to the seatbottom.